Is it time to ditch possession football and build up something from the ground up?

[Morten]

Possession football still works. People say its dead or something, but Bayern is going strong and Germany won the wc with it.

 

[Behrox]

Possession football still works. People say its dead or something, but Bayern is going strong and Germany won the wc with it.

Possession football is not what Germany or Bayern plays. Possession football is an out and out defensive tactic for teams that just want to keep the ball away from the opposition in order to lose by less or grab a point. Just because a team keeps the ball doesn't mean its playing possession football. Look at Bayern or prime Barca or even recently RM, they are all attacking constantly with crisp passing and speed along with constant movement which when done efficiently leads to loads of possession. That is total football not possession football and thats what we need to spark again in order to be the greats again.

 

[Madara Uchiha]

I don't care if we play a possession or counter attacking system as long as it works and is entertaining enough to watch. And no, counter attacking =/= boring nor does it equal parking the bus and praying the ball doesn't go in Di Matteo style. Everyone lauds Dortmund for good, entertaining football and they play a counter attacking game (this was especially true when they were at their peak a couple of years ago). I watched them thrash Madrid a couple of years ago. Way more exciting than any of our games post-Pep.

 

[Darko]

Possession football is not what Germany or Bayern plays. Possession football is an out and out defensive tactic for teams that just want to keep the ball away from the opposition in order to lose by less or grab a point. Just because a team keeps the ball doesn't mean its playing possession football. Look at Bayern or prime Barca or even recently RM, they are all attacking constantly with crisp passing and speed along with constant movement which when done efficiently leads to loads of possession. That is total football not possession football and thats what we need to spark again in order to be the greats again.

No.
Total football is pressing and interchanging of players positionally, for example Messi drops into midfield and Iniesta ventures forward.
Possession football/tiki-taka is movement and short one, two touch passing. Both an offensive tactic and a defensive one, not just to "keep the ball away from the opposition in order to lose by less or grab a point", because obviously when you have the ball you don't have to defend and can focuse on attacking.

Although I agree that what we have been playing since Pep left is not tiki-taka or total football, like Wenger said "Originally they wanted possession in order to attack and win the game; now it seems to be first and foremost a way not to lose".

 

[Bertus]

No.
Total football is pressing and interchanging of players positionally, for example Messi drops into midfield and Iniesta ventures forward.
Possession football/tiki-taka is movement and short one, two touch passing. Both an offensive tactic and a defensive one, not just to "keep the ball away from the opposition in order to lose by less or grab a point", because obviously when you have the ball you don't have to defend and can focuse on attacking.

Although I agree that what we have been playing since Pep left is not tiki-taka or total football, like Wenger said "Originally they wanted possession in order to attack and win the game; now it seems to be first and foremost a way not to lose".

It's not as if Total football / Possession football as you see it only took a nosedive in Barcelona.

- Spain, who also played like this and that won everything thanks to it got destroyed.
- Bayern was humiliated last year in CL because now there are beast clubs around that know how to break that tactic.

So far, nothing proved that this playstyle can make you win a big title anymore. I can't wait to see how Bayern will perform this year in CL. Either Pep will prove that his view of football can evolve to reach today standards, or he will get destroyed again.

 

[Behrox]

No.
Total football is pressing and interchanging of players positionally, for example Messi drops into midfield and Iniesta ventures forward.
Possession football/tiki-taka is movement and short one, two touch passing. Both an offensive tactic and a defensive one, not just to "keep the ball away from the opposition in order to lose by less or grab a point", because obviously when you have the ball you don't have to defend and can focuse on attacking.

Although I agree that what we have been playing since Pep left is not tiki-taka or total football, like Wenger said "Originally they wanted possession in order to attack and win the game; now it seems to be first and foremost a way not to lose".

Bayern's loss was on Pep not Bayern's play style. Pep got his tactics wrong and Bayern left Madrid all alone on the wings and consequently they were destroyed. No matter who you are, you don't give a team like RM that much space on the wings and not get a spanking.

 

[hamad138]

Stop with that back passing, stop with slowing down counters.


Barcelona DNA NEEDS CHANGE